The Wire, Feb 2005
From: "Reissues"

"Anhedoniac, recorded in 1998 soon after Swans disbanded, is Jarboe's most harrowing record, wrenching and soul-excavating yet rarely sappy or melodramatic. Full of tense vocals, thick soundscapes and eerie noises, the album rarely falters, peaking in the growling "Sinner" and "Sacred Disciple Wannabe", a dense amalgam of throat-scraping moans. Adorned with shadowy Richard Kern photos of a pale, naked Jarboe, Anhedoniac (whose title means someone addicted to the inability to experience pleasure) is a truly stabbing slab of all-alone expression.

....Beautiful People Ltd and Anhedoniac present the most convincing portraits of Jarboe's numerous sonic powers."

- (MM)